he changing profile and preferences of the Indian global traveller has led to interesting new
demands as the market has
matured over the last decade.
A significant segment of the India outbound
comprises of the vegetarian traveller who no
longer takes a bagful of theplas, kakhras and
farsan to satiate themselves while touring
the world, but have become more explorative
and adventurous in their tastes and likes.
Our cover story in this issue highlights what
the tourism boards and tour operators are
doing to cater to this segment which comprises more than half of India outbound.
From attending cooking classes in France to
scouring the local food markets in Australia,
the Indian vegetarian traveller is an evolved
segment today in terms of their F&B preferences. F&B has become an integral part of
selecting a destination. When it comes to
MICE and weddings, these destinations are
equally equipped to handle the varied F&B

demands of the India market.
A few days ago we received the news that
June 2017 will be the last month for David
Scowsill as the president and CEO of
WTTC. We have done exclusive interviews
with him many times during his visits to India, and also at international events. On his
recent visit to India, at HICSA he affirmed
that India’s travel and tourism market is in
a good shape globally, and the government
needs to prioritise the maximum growth of
this industry.
Further reflecting India's travel and
tourism positioning, the 2017 World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Travel and
Tourism Competitiveness Index marked India’s ranking jump to 12 points, ranking 40th
in the index. Whereas, Japan and China
ranked fourth and 15th respectively, however
India made the largest leap in the top 50, up
12 places, to land in 40th place.
editorial.etw@expressindia.com

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